Basketball Recap: Justice Sheppard's Big Game Can't Quite Lead South Dade over Palmetto

After flying high against Golden Gate back in December of 2024, South Dade came back down to earth. The South Dade Buccaneers lost to the Palmetto Panthers on the road by a 53-36 margin on Wednesday. The loss continues a trend for the Buccaneers in their matchups with the Panthers: they've now lost eight in a row.

South Dade's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Justice Sheppard, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 boards. With that strong performance, Sheppard is now averaging an impressive 8.4 rebounds per game. Another player making a difference was Lapatra Warren, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 14 rebounds.

South Dade's loss dropped their record down to 4-7. As for Palmetto, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 5-4.

South Dade and Palmetto could both be facing uphill battles in their next games considering their disadvantage in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings. South Dade (ranked 411th) will meet Miami Christian (ranked 77th) at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Similarly, Palmetto (ranked 281st) will meet Southridge (ranked 37th) at 5:00 p.m. on Monday.